Why are people so fond of making grand resolutions this time of year? It’s obviously because they hope that all the pomp and celebration of the occasion will create a sort of momentum to propel them into a new start, right? A nice formal and dramatic way of breaking with the past and opening the door to a newer, better life. Is there anything wrong with this optimism? Heck no! It’s all aboutattitudeain’t it? “You can do anything that you put your mind to” they say, and I firmly agree – as long as you also put your hands to it. I have here a couple of powerful tools right at your disposal that might truly make a difference this year. If you use them consistently you might find that the typical February “drop from the wagon” actually becomes a time where you start reveling in your success. Check it out.

I read an article recently about a well known billionaire who stated that since he was a young man he began every single day with a few minutes of quiet meditation. He felt that this little ritual was as instrumental to his success as all of the other principles and practices he performed as a businessman. Well, I think you can safely classify this guy as an authority. He obviously knew the importance of starting out right.

Just as we instinctively know the importance the New Year we should do a little favor for ourselves and treat every single morning the same way. It truly does set the tone for the entire day. We often tend to just drift into work every morning after waking, spending (wasting) a good chunk of the morning with small talk and yawning as we shake out the cobwebs. How much better it would be if we could take the first ten minutes to give ourselves a little pep talk, to mentally reaffirm the commitments we created, and to prep for our first course of action. The person who thinks he can slowly build momentum throughout the morning hopefully will remember to smile at all the fast starters as they blow by him. 🙂

The other critical time for success-minded individuals is that time just before closing the books on the workday. This is the perfect time to set the agenda for the next day. You have all of you requirements and objectives fresh in mind, hopefully with all sorts of notes and important points to cover tomorrow. This list will be far more complete than one you can throw together in the morning. I’ve seen that one of the biggest failings of mediocre performers is trying to sort out the days agenda – on the day they are suppose to be executing it! Using a preplanned list not only makes you faster and more efficient, but it also actually gives you more flexibility to fit more in. But it has tobe layed out and ready for you when you first wake up.

So why not make this one of your own New Years resolutions? Resolve to give yourself ten minutes every night and ten minutes first thing in the morning – every single day – for a month. Success breeds excitement. It also thrives on application and consistency. See if you can grab your own little chunk of wealth just as that billionaire did!